Giuseppe Pacheco got the giggles as he read from his letter to President Obama, making the other young authors laugh too. A new book featuring letters from Bay Area students to the new president will be unveiled at a launch party Wednesday, January 21, 2009.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Giuseppe Pacheco got the giggles as he read from his letter to...

Image 2 of 3

A number of the young authors sat together and didn't seem nervous before reading from their book, "Thanks And Have Fun Running the Country." A new book featuring letters from Bay Area students to the new president will be unveiled at a launch party at 826 Valencia Wednesday, January 21, 2009.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

A number of the young authors sat together and didn't seem nervous...

Image 3 of 3

A page from the book "Thanks and have fun running the country" with an illustration by Giselle Perez and text by Mireya Perez, both from San Francisco, CA. A new book featuring letters from Bay Area students to the new president will be unveiled at a launch party Wednesday, January 21, 2009.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

A page from the book "Thanks and have fun running the country" with...

"The first thing you need to do is put your stuff in the White House. ... Be careful, Abraham Lincoln haunts one of the bedrooms."

Sound advice from one of the contributors to "Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids' Letters to President Obama," a new book of children's letters and illustrations inspired by the election of President Obama. Matthew Wong, the 8-year-old who wrote the above letter, is from Chicago. But several of the young authors are from San Francisco, where the idea for the book originated.

Jory John, editor of the book, said the idea was born on election night in November. More than a thousand jubilant local residents young and old celebrated Obama's victory over John McCain in the streets in front of a Mission District nonprofit tutoring and writing center called 826 Valencia, where John is program director.

A few days later, John asked the 60 to 65 young students who come to the center every day to compose letters to Obama as a writing exercise. He said the initial results were incredible.

"Some of these writing assignments I give out, they just sort of go through the motions," John said. "These letters were something that the kids really got into. They do want to be heard."

Staff members passed the letters around and then decided to get the 826 program's six other tutoring centers involved, including locations in Seattle, Los Angeles and Ann Arbor, Mich.

The first letters were mostly humorous. But as more came in from across the country, many were extremely heartfelt, and even more provided practical advice. The title of the book came from a five-paragraph letter by 13-year-old San Franciscan Yoselin Martinez, who gives advice on environmental issues and immigration before telling her own story.

"My neighbors think that I am just another Latino that is going to ruin her life. But they are so wrong," Martinez wrote. "I want to go to great high schools. I want to graduate from college and show my mom that I worked my butt off."

Martinez was one of more than a dozen students who showed up at 826 Valencia on Wednesday night to read their letters. Lined up in front of their parents, 826 staff and others from the community, there was levity - but it felt much more like a traditional literary reading than an episode of "Kids Say the Darndest Things."

After the reading, Martinez said she would like to some day write historical fiction.

"I want to be a writer when I grow up," Martinez said. "I didn't think I'd be in a book so soon."

"Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country" is available for order at 826national.org and will start appearing in local bookstores. John and the publishers at 826 had very little time to prepare the book, but wanted a few copies available in time for the inauguration.

But the letters don't seem rushed. The students have a lot of suggestions for an Obama family dog (Labradoodle seems to be a popular pick). Other themes are much more practical. Amy Ramirez, an 8-year-old from San Francisco, had this to say: "When you are president, don't eat junk food. Junk food makes you fat. Your family shouldn't eat junk food either, because it is not healthy. Obama, you rock."

John said certain themes popped up again and again.

"Kids wrote a lot about cleaning the world," he said. "They wrote a lot about the war. They were also very curious about living in the White House. One of the girls, Holly Wong from San Francisco, said the best thing about living in the White House was being able to run around like a maniac. ... I was really impressed by the quality of the letters. They're just all over the place in the best way. I'm glad they don't just all say the same things."

The book has been published, but everyone is still wondering whether the letters will reach their destination.

A new book, "Thanks And Have Fun Running The Country" has many contributions by local students who attend 826 Valencia after school. Some gathered to read their letters and speak with an honesty Mr. Obama would appreciate. Duration: 2:50. Camera and editi